NEWS: PLAZA @ Hartlepool Town Hall

The second of a quarterly concert series champions emerging music in one of Hartlepool’s most bespoke venues

By Michael O'Neill
on Friday, December 15th, 2017

Image: Plaza

In a day and age of NME-sanctioned ‘grunge revivals’, it’s always refreshing to see bands that refuse to play it safe succeed. Hartlepool’s PLAZA are a shining example of how there’s still life in the two guitars/bass/drums configuration, regardless of what those middle aged blokes sweating over their deluxe editions of As You Were say. Their brilliantly meteoric ascent over the last couple of years has been hard to ignore, and the fruits of their labour make it clear that their refusal to pander stands them in good stead. I’ve seen them be described as ‘post-indie’, which is an apt description (remember that a ‘post-[blank]’ genre will always be as reactionary as it is evolutionary), as their music deconstructs the zeitgeist entirely, repurposing it with more off-kilter elements that allow their music to challenge and enthral. What’s left behind is a remarkable and refreshing sound that is as cerebral as it is unpretentious.

Their show at Hartlepool Town Hall on Friday 22nd December, alongside Hartlepool’s own Para Alta, The Jar Family’s Max Bianco and Gr4ce, concludes a year of astounding achievements and relentless graft for the four-piece. It won’t be long before they’ll be commanding bigger shows in bigger venues, so this opportunity to witness them before they ascend even further is one you’ll regret passing on.